Edit: Region (and panty)-freeness has been confirmed all over the internets. Buy the game for whatever region Xbox 360 you own.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WHY SHOULD I CARE ETC
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Mushihimesama Futari is known as one of the best arcade shooters of the past decade and with good reason:

・Brilliant graphic design coupled with challenging but rewarding difficulty has ensured Futari's long stay in Japanese game centers.
・Deep but not overly complicated scoring systems which characterise the game's various modes are known as some of CAVE's most engaging.
・CAVE has described Mushi Futari as a "test case" to measure overseas interest in their games, and Futari could very well turn the tide towards releasing more of their games in the West.

Includes a remix CD of the game soundtrack by a variety of game musicians.

Additionally, comes with a DLC card which will allow you to download Mushihimesama Futari 1.01, a slightly remixed version of the original arcade game before it was overhauled for being too difficult. Only for the hard-nosed.

EY YO I HAVE THIS 1.01 CARD BUT DUNNO WHAT'S I DO WIT IT
It's cool. On the account which you want to use the card on (and permanently save the DLC to), press the guide button, go to the left most screen "Use a Code", input the code there and download voilą!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------GAME MODES AND SCORING SYSTEMS
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The original arcade release of Mushihimesama Futari featured the three modes below. At first glance it may seem that these modes are simply difficulty settings. This however is not the case; each mode has a deep and unique scoring system which an advance player could spend hundreds of hours trying to truly master. For example, Original is tuned to steadily increase the rank (i.e. the bullet speed) according to how well the player does. Check out this video of an advanced player on the last stage in Original mode. These rank increases ensure that Original is just as deep and challenging as Maniac and Ultra which appear much more daunting. And yet, Original is still clearable on one credit by any player who practices and puts time into the game.

I will be introducing the scoring mechanics and major differences between each mode below. I hope to illustrate why players have found so much depth in Mushi Futari's many game modes and hopefully help folks here "get dat number up" and climb to the top of their friends list.

For an in-depth treatment of each scoring system, check out EOJ's authoritative guide here:

Original mode features rather reasonable bullet patterns and with practice, can be beaten on one credit by most players since you are provided with plenty of bombs. The rank (speed and density of bullets) will increase the better you do in the game, but bombing will bring the rank down.

You will want to switch between your shot and laser to kill enemies according to the value of your overall counter. When the third digit (hundreds) of the counter is 0-4, use shot, when it is 5-9, kill enemies with laser. The counter will be green when you need to use shot, and blue when you need to use laser. By killing enemies with the appropriate shot, you will get larger gems than normal, and build your overall counter which carries over from stage to stage. Green gems will appear only briefly when an enemy dies, and the faster you can pick them up, the faster your counter (and score) will grow.

For instance, the raging dinosaur below would need to be taken out with laser (hundreds digit is 7).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRnVJ2naQqg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Maniac Mode
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Maniac mode will require you to kill multiple enemies in quick succession to build up the "chaining bar" on the left side of the screen. You want to get this bar up to red, and then kill enemies to collect gold gems. Then when you get the multiplier on the left up to a nice number (like x9999), let off the shot button and kill enemies with your laser. If you kill a big enemy with a bomb effect like one of the dragon heads on stage 1, you'll be rewarded with a shower of blue gems. It's this interplay between collecting gems and cashing in that makes this mode so simple yet engaging.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTxAv1B7fkg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ultra Mode
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Basically if you have the nuts to handle this mode you better get down stage 1 which is brutal and unforgiving. But it leads on to the relatively more fun stage 2 and 3 full of big explosions. Scoring is similar to Original in that you have to switch up shot types according to the color of the counter.

A unique mode developed by famed CAVE programmer Tsuneki Ikeda wherein players take control of both Reco and Palm, using them alternately as shields against incoming shots. Bullets that are absorbed can be thrown back at the enemy, causing big explosions of gold gems. Original and Maniac are still quite mild, but Ultra requires Ikaruga-style changing between both players to keep from being overwhelmed by the heaping bullet patterns. Lots of fun, ridiculous chaos!

"In Arrange, your secondary character forms a barrier for you. While using shot, enemy bullets will be slowed and paused, and when firing laser the stopped bullets will bounce back and lots of gems will be generated. What's important here are the 4-digit numbers at the bottom of the screen. When your control character is using shot, this will increase, and when the control character uses laser it will quickly drop. However, if your reserve character gets hit by a bullet, the counter of the control character will drop. Your reserve character's counter will not drop and will go on increasing, so a precise switching of both characters is required. When both gauges are at 9999, you enter fever mode in which you are much more powerful and your score increases greatly."

-There is a button to switch characters (defaults to X). You also switch between 'OS' and 'DS' when you switch characters (see below).
-the counter on the bottom left is called the 'offense' counter, on the 'offense side' (OS). It increases as you absorb all gems except the blue-hued ones
-the counter on the bottom right is called the 'defense' counter, on the 'defense side' (DS). It increases as you absorb bullets with your option. It decreases when bullets hit the option's hitbox or when you reflect bullets back at the enemy.
-Hold shot while on the DS and your option moves as a trace.
-Hold laser while on the DS and your option is fixed in place.
-While using shot on the DS your option forms a barrier (or 'guard') which you can use to absorb bullets. It also slows the speed of bullets.
-You can absorb bullets as long as your DS counter is not at zero.
-To reflect bullets back you have to be on the DS and have a counter that is not zero. Absorb bullets while holding shot then press laser to reflect them back in the form of gems (the bullets never do any damage to the enemy and are always reflected back as gems for you to absorb). The longer you hold the guard before you press laser, the more gems you'll spawn.

Black Label is a remixed version of Futari that debuted in arcades at the end of 2007. It will be available as DLC on Xbox LIVE late December according to producer Makoto Asada. Price is not set at the moment, but it will probably be at least 1200 MSP judging by the cost of the Deathsmiles Mega Black Label DLC.

All modes in Black Label are fundamentally different from 1.5.

Original - Black Label Original adds a proximity mechanic whereby enemies shed big gold gems the closer you get to them. This ups your stage counter, and accordingly your overall counter, and steadily increases the game rank, which means faster bullets.

Maniac - Maniac scoring is similar to 1.5 but it is much easier to get the meter into red and trigger big golden explosions. Bosses have their bullet clouds sped up a little bit which is a bit of a negative.

God - God mode replaces Ultra, and features the Maniac scoring system taken to the limit. Now the max multiplier is not x9999 but x30000, and when reached, big golden text 30,000s fill the screen. Still a harsh mode, but nowhere near as bad as Ultra.
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玉砕できません When selecting Ultra Mode, choose to opt out when asked "Are you ready to be murdered every second?" - 5G
優柔不断 Get a Time Over on the mode select screen - 5G
止まってた？！ Do nothing for 5 seconds during gameplay - 10G
やったー、もういっちょやったー Get an extend by picking up a Bomb or Power-up Item 20G
無念のリタイア Get a Game Over while a 1UP item is on the screen - 15G
Caveをボッコボコ Defeat Spiritual Larsa in Ultra mode (extends every 80 million may be turned on) - 50G
地獄の一丁目 Clear the first stage of Ultra Mode - 15G
地獄の三丁目 Clear the third stage of Ultra Mode - 25G
Caveの敗北 Clear the fifth stage of Ultra Mode - 50G
私の代わりならいるもの Get an Extend - 20G
ガッガッ、ガンバリマス！ Start the game with Palm - 5G

Black Label achievements (Copied from Nzero at shmups)

黒いレコ Clear Black Label with Reco, any mode 20G
黒いパルム Clear Black Label with Palm, any mode 20G
10万走行 In Black Label Original, get the total counter over 100,000 30G
極弩三万倍
In Black Label God Mode, get the multiplier to 30,000 25G
ぱーふぇくとレコ 1CC any mode in Black Label with Reco 20G
ぱーふぇくとパルム 1CC any mode in Black Label with Palm 20G
また会えたね Use a Continue in any mode of Black Label 5G
超せっかち Skip the Game Over display in any mode of Black Label 5G

Secret Achievements
お買上げありがとうございました Start a game in any mode of Black Label 5G
Secret Achievement 100G

I pre-ordered my LE from NCSX since they were the only ones who had it up for order at the time of the region-free news. I figured it was the safest choice in case Cave decided not to press a lot of copies, at least I would have gotten in early.

I'm pretty sure the LE is sold out everywhere so I'd be surprised if you can still get your hands on it. I've asked at a few game shops and they can't even get copies so I doubt the import shops can. : /

I'm pretty sure the LE is sold out everywhere so I'd be surprised if you can still get your hands on it. I've asked at a few game shops and they can't even get copies so I doubt the import shops can. : /

If it weren't for Two Weeks of Battle Garegga I'd be working on clearing Mushihimesama original mode right now.

Good luck with Garegga! Get dat number up!

I've cleared Mushi 1 original, and at the time it was a bit of a thrill (my second 1CC), but for me ultimately it's got to be one of the most boring scoring systems CAVE ever made. No multipliers or bonuses on any of the stages or bosses, it's just how many lives you can get to the end with which ultimately determines your score. I suppose if you look at it as a stepping stone to playing Maniac, which has a very deep although slightly obscure scoring system, it's worth it, but the the nice thing about Futari is that they really spent the time to make sure Original has a very fun and deep scoring system.

I'm pretty sure the LE is sold out everywhere so I'd be surprised if you can still get your hands on it. I've asked at a few game shops and they can't even get copies so I doubt the import shops can. : /

I really hope this isn't the case. I went nuts with all the Mushihime stuff for the original, it'd be a shame if I ended up missing out on the LE for this. :(

this game releases the day before my birthday. too bad i wont be getting it until like a week after. :lol

My birthday is November 29th and I've also viewed this as a gift to myself! NCSX should have it to me a few days after I turn thirty-five if the LE stock get gets delivered. Otherwise I gotta wait till play-asia slow-ships my standard. I've prepared with Mushi Futari brick-a-brack in the last month to get my game room all ready. Super excited for a game I'm never ever seen or played.

Oh, I'm hyped for this! Managed to secure a Cave LE order and also going to be getting the stick. I've been playing this game a lot more in the arcades in anticipation, heh, it's really amazing how well made this game is! Hopefully with enough practice I'll be able to credit ultra mode, maybe actually get a chance to make it to my arcade's scoreboard, haha.

My birthday is November 29th and I've also viewed this as a gift to myself! NCSX should have it to me a few days after I turn thirty-five if the LE stock get gets delivered. Otherwise I gotta wait till play-asia slow-ships my standard. I've prepared with Mushi Futari brick-a-brack in the last month to get my game room all ready. Super excited for a game I'm never ever seen or played.

I'm in for it all, including the fugly stick.

cool. i saw the date on it and decided that this was my present to myself this year as well. :D (37 this year for me)

id buy the stick too actually, but its too much $ for what it is (and the ugly factor), so im scrounging around to get the funds for the HRAP SE. i want that stick almost as much as i want the game.

Oh, I'm hyped for this! Managed to secure a Cave LE order and also going to be getting the stick. I've been playing this game a lot more in the arcades in anticipation, heh, it's really amazing how well made this game is! Hopefully with enough practice I'll be able to credit ultra mode, maybe actually get a chance to make it to my arcade's scoreboard, haha.

Nice dude. What mode are you working on right now? Are you playing 1.5?

I'm a huge black label fan, so much that I honestly have only played 1.5 a few times. Going to have to do some research for the mode introductions I'm promising in the OP. :lol

Thanks, it's so frustrating. I can't tell if I should just forego rank management for now, if I should worry a ton about medals, if I should be suiciding prior to the pink flamingos, etc. So much shit can go wrong, and I can't even break 3 million! been playin' all day aoijzezefa

It's one hell of a puzzle.

I've cleared Mushi 1 original, and at the time it was a bit of a thrill (my second 1CC), but for me ultimately it's got to be one of the most boring scoring systems CAVE ever made. No multipliers or bonuses on any of the stages or bosses, it's just how many lives you can get to the end with which ultimately determines your score. I suppose if you look at it as a stepping stone to playing Maniac, which has a very deep although slightly obscure scoring system, it's worth it, but the the nice thing about Futari is that they really spent the time to make sure Original has a very fun and deep scoring system.

Cool to hear about Futari. The simple scoring system doesn't bother me, since I'm just focusing on the clear, but I was surprised to see how bare it was compared to pretty much every other Cave game.

Thanks, it's so frustrating. I can't tell if I should just forego rank management for now, if I should worry a ton about medals, if I should be suiciding prior to the pink flamingos, etc. So much shit can go wrong, and I can't even break 3 million! been playin' all day aoijzezefa

It's one hell of a puzzle.

I ignored rank management until I was comfortable with the level layouts and enemies. If you play through it as best you can to maintain a score at a higher rank it'll be easier when you start managing your rank.

So excited for this! :D Also, glad that for this shmup release it's not just those of us with NTSC-J 360s that are getting to experience it on day one. Hope all you EU/US 360 owning shmup fans are looking forward to this too :)

God I want this so much..Cave's lack of support for the ps3 is heartbreaking. ;_;

Make it stop, Make it Stop!

[IMG]http://i37.************/9ibosl.gif[/IMG]

Super excited for this. I still need to get one of the coupons and Pre-order it on play-asia, It's going to join my copy of Deathsmiles as my only full priced release for the year. Even though I'll be able to play this one :lol

Even though I know I shouldn't be asking, Why is the official thread about a month early? Is it coming out sooner than PA's release date?